University of Pennsylvania Department of Bioengineering
By Sophie Burkholder As technology and hands-on activities continue to become a larger part of education at all levels, a new movement of do-it-yourself projects is on the rise. Known as the “MakerSpace Movement,” the idea is that with the use of devices like 3-D printers, laser cutters, and simple circuitry materials, students, classes and …
Continue reading “How to Build Your Own Makerspace for Under $1500”
by Sophie Burkholder A New Sprayable Gel Can Help Prevent Surgical Adhesions Adhesions are a common kind of scar tissue that can occur after surgery, and though usually not painful, they have the potential to result in complications like chronic pain or decreased heart efficiency, depending on where the scar tissue forms. Now, a sprayable …
by Sophie Burkholder Tulane Researchers Use Cancer Imaging Technique to Help Detect Preeclampsia Preeclampsia is potentially life-threatening pregnancy disorder that typically occurs in about 200,000 expectant mothers every year. With symptoms of high blood pressure, swelling of the hands and feet, and protein presence in urine, preeclampsia is usually treatable if diagnosed early enough. However, …
by Sophie Burkholder Synthetic Spinal Discs from a Penn Research Team Might Be the Solution to Chronic Back Pain Spinal discs, the concentric circles of collagen fiber found between each vertebra of the spine, can be the source of immense back pain when ruptured. Especially for truck and bus drivers, veterans, and cigarette smokers, there …
Advances in Stem Cell Research A paper published this month in Scientific Reports announced a new a strategy for the treatment of segmental bone defects. The new technique, called Segmental Additive Tissue Engineering (or SATE) comes from a team of researchers with the New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute (NYSCF). A press release from the …
Holy Grail Found We cover many highly complex innovations here, and many of these innovations solve vexing problems in the healthcare field. However, sometimes the problems addressed by these innovations are not particularly complex, even if the impact is economically significant. For instance, venipuncture — commonly referred to as a blood draw — is one …
Nicholas Stiansen, a senior Bioengineering major at Penn, is one of eight students and alumni receiving a Thouron Award. Nick will receive a full scholarship to cover tuition and fees, plus a stipend of £19,500 (approximately $27,000). He is still awaiting decisions from graduate programs, but his first choice is to study at Imperial College London …
Continue reading “Thouron Award for Bioengineering Major Nicholas Stiansen”
Pretreatment Determination of Cancer Therapy Efficacy Multiple myeloma is a type of blood cell cancer affecting the blood plasma cells. Although significant advances have improved the treatment of multiple myeloma, the 5-year survival rate remains only 50%. Among the obstacles to increasing survival is that some patients do not respond to drugs for the disease. …
The week of August 21-25, 20 students from area middle schools visited Penn to participate in InnoWorks, an educational initiative of the United InnoWorks Academy (UIA), a non-profit organization founded in 2003 by William Hwang, M.D., Ph.D., when he was an undergraduate engineering major at Duke. Today, InnoWorks offers programs at 20 colleges and universities in …
Each year, the Penn Department of Bioengineering chooses undergraduate students to receive fellowships for summer research. These fellowships, which provide a $3,500 stipend for use over 10 weeks, were endowed by the Abraham Noordergraaf Student Summer Bioengineering Research Fund. Dr. Noordergraaf, who died in 2014, was a founding member and first chair of the Penn …
Continue reading “Noordergraaf Fellows Conduct Summer Research”